


Advent 24

by darksquall, lanapanda



Series: Science Boys Advent 2012 [3]
Category: Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types, The Avengers (2012)
Genre: Fluff, M/M, advent fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-12-06
Updated: 2012-12-06
Packaged: 2017-11-20 10:28:35
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,696
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/584406
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/darksquall/pseuds/darksquall, https://archiveofourown.org/users/lanapanda/pseuds/lanapanda
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A day later and Tony can barely believe it's real... until the planning starts. (Part of an Advent series in collaboration with darksquall)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Advent 24

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: The characters and places contained herein do not belong to me and I am making no money from this.
> 
> (Sorry this is so late! We'll try to catch up over the next few weeks. -- Lana)

Thirty hours into it, Tony found that the most difficult part of being secretly engaged to Bruce Banner was simply trying to keep the ‘I am ridiculously happy for reasons you will never guess’ smile off of his face.   
  
It was different from the ‘I just got laid in my office’ smile, or the ‘I’m so much smarter than you’ smile or even the ‘you aren’t prepared for the level of awesome I’m about to unleash right now’ smile. No, this smile was impossible to keep under wraps because it was insidious. It snuck up on Tony in the middle of the daily supply status meeting; it crept along the edges of the inventory discrepancy file; it even wheedled its way into the afternoon financial reports.   
  
At the end of the day, when Tony took the private elevator up to the penthouse he and Bruce shared, Tony had all but given up trying not to smile and was going with grinning unrepentantly instead.   
  
The scent of Indian food greeted him as soon as he made it through the door, and Tony realized Bruce must have beaten him home – there was a full spread of curry from their favorite takeout place already laid out in the kitchen.   
  
Tony found himself smiling again as he shrugged out of his jacket and tossed it onto a nearby chair before fixing their plates to take to the den for movie night. Curry at a restaurant, whether with the team or on their own meant that they would be sitting right next to each other, ‘stealing’ food from each other’s plates for the duration. But curry at home was even better, because it meant that they would be watching westerns while curled up on the couch and really, it was like having just one plate since they shared everything.    
  
He found Bruce already on the couch waiting for him, two beers on the table beside the couch, and the movie already in the queue. Tony grinned and took his coveted spot right next to Bruce and offered him a plate and a kiss in turn. “Mmm, nothing like spicy food on a cold night.”   
  
If Bruce’s expression was anything to go by, Tony thought he wasn’t the only one having trouble hiding the engagement-related elation. “Nothing like good spicy food,” Bruce teased after he’d accepted both the plate and the kiss. “That first place we tried was awful.”   
  
“I should have just let you pick from the start,” Tony admitted. Their first time going anywhere together after agreeing to be a couple, Tony had been so excited (even if they couldn’t be ‘out’ in public) that he’d picked the first Indian place that looked good. It had proven to be anything but, and after trying a curry that tasted like the soap used on the plates, Tony had relinquished all restaurant picking to Bruce. “I did learn though, didn’t I?”   
  
“Mm. The hard way,” Bruce smiled and had another bite of food.   
  
“Well, it is how I learn best,” Tony quipped and helped himself to some of the naan from Bruce’s plate. It was almost surprisingly comfortable. Good food, his fiancé and a western playing in the background. Speaking of which... “So. Wedding plans?”   
  
Bruce nodded,”We should probably start with guests and venue.” He nabbed a puri from Tony’s plate and pulled up a holographic screen for them to share as they planned. “Any thoughts?”   
  
“Well, small ceremony... guests... other than the rest of the team, Pepper and Rhodey, I’m not sure there’s anyone else we’d invite.” Tony leaned across Bruce to set up a file for the amazingly short guest list. He was certain they’d be done with planning in a day, two days tops.   
  
“And Coulson, right?” Bruce smiled as he watched Tony add names to the list.   
  
“He’s part of the team, so definitely,” Tony replied and added his name, and then a couple more. “Even Fury can come as long as he doesn’t try to get all bossy about it.”   
  
Bruce looked over the list and tipped his head thoughtfully. “We’d better tell them tomorrow in case they can’t make it.”   
  
“Then we should get the venue set up tonight too,” Tony replied. Couldn’t invite people to a wedding without telling people where it would be, right?   
  
“Yeah. Did you have anywhere in mind?” Bruce snuck another puri and Tony pretended not to notice.   
  
Truth be told... Tony didn’t have anything at all in mind. He hadn’t planned anything other than making the ring and coming up with the perfect way to propose. He hadn’t let himself think past that, just in case it all went wrong. Now that it had gone so very right, Tony found himself considering a lot of the details for the very first time.   
  
“Hmm... Somewhere private, so we don’t get any random press trying to peek in.”   
  
“Well, since it’s Christmas, somewhere snowy?” Bruce suggested, and Tony found himself nodding along agreeably.  
  
“We could rent a cabin in the woods...” Tony said, and it was a little like when they worked in the lab, one idea building off the next until everything came together just the right way.   
  
“That sounds perfect,” Bruce said with a smile. “I have only one question.”   
  
“Ask away, Love.” Tony polished off the last of his curry before it could meet the same fate as his rapidly-vanishing puris.   
  
“Think we can find a place that will stand up to a super-powered snowball fight?” The look on Bruce’s face was so innocuous that one might almost miss the gleam of mischief in his eyes.   
  
Tony’s expression slowly broke into a grin as he imagined it. Property damage would be worth it just to see Thor’s reaction alone, not to mention Fury’s. “I can buy a place, so it won’t matter.”   
  
“You’re taking a suit, aren’t you?” Bruce laughed and leaned over to kiss Tony on the cheek.   
  
“Two. I can adjust the Mach V to fit you.”   
  
“God I love you.” Bruce grinned at the prospect and Tony decided right then and there that Bruce would be getting his own suit, period.   
  
“And I love you,” Tony replied, and he looped an arm around Bruce to pull him close. He ignored the blush that always seemed to show up whenever they were being overtly affectionate -- it had taken him just six months to get to the point that he could say ‘I love you’ without hesitating, but the blush remained, a stubborn throwback to Tony’s emotional reticence up to that point. “Let’s go ahead and pick a cabin so I can put in a blind bid. Then we need to decide on decorations... and the food... Oh good grief.”   
  
“Just starting to hit you, isn’t it?”  
  
“Shhh. We can do this. We’re geniuses.”   
  
“Okay,” Bruce said and he sat their plates to one side and pulled up another screen. “So we’ll find a cabin somewhere that will let us have snow on the ground. Next is someone to perform the ceremony...”   
  
“Ugh. Still can’t expect most priests to be okay with it, and I’m not religious. We can’t necessarily expect a justice of the peace to keep it confidential before the ceremony,” Tony said with a faint grimace. “And in fact... we’re going to need to bail right after we file for the marriage license. The press has people primed to watch for famous names on the register.” The last thing he wanted was to spend a week or two leading up to the wedding saying ‘no comment’ the whole time.   
  
“Well, we have to get the license at least 24 hours before we get married. So if we get it on Christmas Eve, we can head straight for the cabin afterwards,”  Bruce said as he double-checked the days and times that the court house would be open.  
  
“Yeah, and we’ll need to... hnn...” Tony adjusted their internal schedules to reflect the dates they were planning around. “The only way to head off people looking for us is probably to do a press conference that same day. Big wedding announcement, then leave with security to keep people from following.”   
  
Bruce nodded. “Then since we’ll be leaving for the cabin a day early, we should probably have a Christmas dinner with everyone together?”   
  
“I’d like that. Something informal. Never got to have an informal Christmas dinner before last year with you.” Tony’s smile held a curl of mischief as he ran his hand through Bruce’s hair.  
  
“We were a little busy,” Bruce said with a faint blush that indicated he was remembering just how busy they’d been.   
  
“It was... really fun to be busy with you.”   
  
“Well, you did ask me to stuff your stocking.”   
  
“I think by then I was insisting,” Tony said teasingly.   
  
Bruce cleared his throat and pointed out a spacious rustic cabin, well out of the city. There was a big wide deck that looked out over a forest, with evergreens and snow all around. The cabin itself was spacious, with beds both upstairs and down, a proper den and a fully equipped kitchen. “... How about this one?”  
  
“Ohh, that’s perfect. Going to be a great view...” Tony flipped through the images. The house itself wasn’t officially on the market, but it was available to rent over Christmas, and with the right (financial) incentive, Tony was sure they’d have the deed in a few days.   
  
Bruce was already making plans. “We can rig up a temporary roof and get married right out there with the view and the snow and that fire.”   
  
“You have the very best ideas. Alright, I’ll put in a bid through the proxy to buy that place tonight.”  
  
“And if it survives the wedding and the celebrations... we can go back and celebrate our anniversary.”   
  
“If it doesn’t survive, we’ll rebuild it,” Tony said with a nod. It was a perfect getaway, remote enough to let them have their privacy, but close enough to proper amenities should they be needed.    
  
Bruce smiled at the idea of their having an off the grid kind of haven. “I’d love to keep going back when we can.”   
  
“We definitely will. We need more vacations. The last year and a half... it flew by and we spent most of it working when we weren’t... y’know.”   
  
“Getting over the urge to make love every five minutes?” Bruce laughed.   
  
“I’m still not over it.” Tony said with a sheepish grin.   
  
“Okay. We have a guest list, we have a venue... as long as you can get that sorted.” Bruce glanced over at Tony’s screen to check the progress on their list.   
  
“The proxy is making inquiries now.”   
  
“Decorations?” Bruce tapped the screen and added another list.   
  
“Christ.” This was quickly getting complicated, Tony realized. But even so, they were making progress, and he had to admit that he was happier in the midst of this planning crush than he had any right to be. He laughed and shook his head. “Wow. I love you. Yes, decorations! Are we going with Christmas decorations or...?”   
  
“Actually... we really need to pick a theme for the wedding before we decide.” Bruce said, hiding a smile of his own.  
  
Tony blurted out the first thing that came to mind. “He blinded me with Science?”  
  
Bruce laughed. “Maybe we should go with something Christmas-sy?”  
  
“We could do both. Red and green and gold. You like gold. Yellow. I like red... and the blinded part could just be all the shiny stuff.” Tony filled in potential options for decorations on yet another list.   
  
“We should get new outfits for this too, you know.”   
  
“Right. Appointment at the tailor tomorrow after the 9:30 production meeting.” Tony added the appointment to the calendar. Their already full schedules were going to be tested to the breaking point with this -- hopefully Pepper would be alright with the sudden shift in priorities.   
  
“You can have red and gold accents; I’ll have green and gold.” Bruce made a note under the schedule to be sent to the tailor before they arrived.   
  
Tony paused and just watched Bruce for a moment. When he’d first arrived at the tower, he’d been so careful of everything, and now... now he was completely at home. Bold enough to rearrange Tony’s schedule for him, and watching that made Tony smile all over again. “This is going to be wonderful. You. You are wonderful. JARVIS, you’re being recruited for research and coordination -- Bruce and I are getting married on Christmas day. Tell no one.”   
  
“Of course, Sir. Congratulations to you both.” JARVIS refrained from asking about weather forecasts involving flying pigs, but Tony knew there would be commentary forthcoming later.   
  
“Thanks, Jarvis,” Bruce smiled and looked over the list. “Having a holiday theme makes the decorations easier to choose. I think if we go for bell themed things it will count for Christmas and wedding.”   
  
“Perfect. Does that mean the wedding garter has to have a bell on it?” Tony grinned. He was mostly teasing. Mostly. But the wedding garter was a tradition and he just had to mention it.  
  
“... not one that rings, because someone will pick up on it,” Bruce said as he turned to see if Tony was serious.  
  
“I’ll wear one if you do. And if anyone asks, I’ll tell them it’s our chastity belts.” It was too good to pass up. Most people thought that Bruce was always serious, always reserved. The truth of it was (with Tony around at least) Bruce was the cause of roughly 47% of the mischief in and around Stark Industries.   
  
“No ringing, but... why the hell not?” Bruce laughed and shook his head. It was also true that Tony was the instigator for roughly half of the mischief that could be attributed to Bruce.  
  
“Hey, it’s our day, right? If it makes you smile like that, I want it.”   
  
“It’ll make me smile knowing what’s on under that suit.”   
  
“Then it’s all yours. I hope you’ll be creative, taking it off,” Tony said as he lowered his eyelashes, pretending to be demure.  
  
“I’ll try my best,” Bruce said with a grin. “Will my teeth do?”   
  
“Oh yeah. However you do it, I’m definitely sure I’ll enjoy it.”    
  
“So... shall we practice for the honeymoon?” Bruce didn’t give Tony a chance to answer immediately. Instead he tugged Tony over just enough to initiate the briefest, most tantalizing of kisses.  
  
Tony stopped scrolling through the decoration and menu options JARVIS had begun to dutifully compile in favor of leaning into that kiss. “Mmm... yes. Absolutely yes. A few nights of practice and then maybe... we save it up for a couple of weeks ‘til our first night as a married couple?”   
  
Bruce’s expression held just a faint flicker of concern, but he nodded anyway. ”Are you alright with us sharing a bed, regardless?”  
  
“Mmhmm. If you promise not to let me convince you to blow our savings, so to speak.” Tony held Bruce a little closer. He knew that neither of them would get much sleep alone these days, sex or no sex. They’d come to depend on the closeness as a bulwark against nightmares and worse.   
  
“I promise. We’ll be too tired to do anything most of the time.”   
  
“You think so?”   
  
“Organizing, planning, working... we need to discuss a honeymoon, too.”   
  
“Honeymoon is easy. All I need is you, and no meetings for two weeks.”   
  
“Here?”   
  
“Wherever. I’d love to travel with you, explore with you...” Tony tipped his head and nipped at Bruce’s ear lightly. “... kiss you in places I’ve never been before... Or just stay home and spend every day getting to know you all over again.”   
  
Bruce shivered, then leaned in to brush his lips against Tony’s ear in retaliation before he whispered, “We’re going to need a few days with room service, Tony.”   
  
Tony’s eyelashes fluttered. “Mmm.  JARVIS. We’re going to need a list of places to spend our honeymoon. Good room service. Lots of privacy. Lots.”   
  
JARVIS knew better than to answer. Tony was already leading Bruce away to the bedroom and the glowing screens in the den were left to fend for themselves until morning.


End file.
